Set In Stone
by Dittolicous
Summary: AU. He thought you couldn't change fate. He thought everything was set in stone. As that stone crumbles, he learns. He was wrong.


**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE IDEA. **

**Also, all of these were written BEFORE THE MOVIE CAME OUT. Hence, being slightly AU. **

**Set In Stone**

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_"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."_

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It would happen and no one could change that.

Not the Defender.

Not the Guide.

Not even the Savior.

If only they would listen. If only they would believe. Then they could save themselves. Why waste time on the predestine? You cannot change the future, no matter how hard you try. It was foolish to throw away such valuable time and energy on the fated.

Everything is set in stone and he has seen the carvings.

It was cruel and painful. The agony of the wait, the terror of the time. As the time grows near, the fight becomes it's worst.

But why fight it?

Let the doomed go, let the left behind live.

If you could call it living.

Looking at the Teacher, he could only call it pitiful. Nothing but a glove of broken will, with nothing to lose or gain. She lived for null but to live. She was a shattered mirror, losing her other image. No glue nor stitches could heal her wounds, for they lay in her soul.

What a life to live.

But her time draws near and soon her half will be whole. So does his.

But he can't be bothered by it. Why be bother by what cannot be changed? He excepts it. He has not the energy to fight it anyways. He waits for it, through the torture of time, it draws close. And he knows it. He does not resist.

The Savior disagrees. But that is because he doesn't understand. No one does. Only he does.

The Savior keeps believing, keeps saying they should fight back, for a life of hiding isn't a life at all.

He agrees. But let the doomed go. Let the existing fight. Do not waste time on those who cannot be saved. Let the foretold unroll, do not fight it.

The Savior still disagrees.

----

I can feel it. My time has come. As we cross this bridge, I know this is where it ends. I've known this, seen this, even felt it. And now it has come. Despite everything, the Savior can do nothing to stop it. He refuses to except that, no matter how many times I tell him. He continues telling me I must believe, I must try, I must fight it, that nothing is set in stone and I can choose my future.

How wrong he is.

Yet his words have gotten me. He has pulled me in, and doubt has filled my mind. I hadn't even realized it until we had reached my killing ground. I had believed him. I had tried and fought. My own belief in my visions had wavered Perhaps... perhaps....

I had lived and did not realize it.

I begin shaking. Fear has set in. I'm afraid. I do not want to die! Not anymore! I can live! I must!

The voices begin screaming and hissing in my ear, they tell me I am only fooling my self. There is no chance for survival.

The Savior and Defender look at me. They are saying something but I can't understand. My mind is a buzz with terror. My hopes are crashing. My will breaking.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look over. Burlap. The Savior... he says something... It's fuzzy and misted... The voice are still flying around my head, screaming bloody murder, telling me to just finish myself off instead of waiting for another to do it. I grab at my thread hair, pulling at it. The voices won't stop. I don't want to believe them. I want to believe him. The Savior.

Suddenly, I'm shaken roughly. My body freezes and I look up. The Defenders optics are wide and the Savior is watching me with worry. I stare at them. He speaks again. The voices stop.

"It's okay, 6. We can make it. Now, we need to cross this bridge. It's the fastest way to the hideout and the others.

I mumble and nod. We begin walking forward and the fear strikes me again. I fall behind. The Defender places a gentle hand on my arm.

"Are you all right? Have you seen something?"

I want to scream. I want to shout. Yes! Yes, I have! This bridge is my death bed and I don't want to die! I want to run, run far away and hide! I WANT TO LIVE!

But all that leaves my mouth is a meek 'No.'

She reads me like a book however. Her optics show she knows I don't speak the truth. She opens her mouth again but stops. Her grip on my arm tightens.

"6... I..."

I give her a weak smile, unable to do better.

She smiles back, a broken smile of pain.

She knows.

And I hate that. The pain in her optics. She doesn't want to lose another one. Another friend, her brethren. I hate seeing that pain. I'm tired of seeing pain. Why can I never see the hope? Never see the light?

Why can't I be more like the Savior?

I look forward at the burlap figure. He walking slowly. He keeps glancing back. His optics meet mine and he gives me a warm smile.

Warmth floods me.

Is this hope?

The Defender has joined the Savior ahead of me. The talk quietly. I don't bother trying to listen in. I know they are worried. I wish they weren't.

I wish I could give them more happiness. More hope.

I wish I wasn't such a weight on their shoulders.

A creak runs down the bridge. We all freeze. I can hear my mechanical heart pound in my head. I begin shaking, hard. I grab my key, gripping it so tightly that I feel my nib finger pierce my hands. Both Savior and Defender turn to me, telling me too hurry. Their voices laced with fear. The Savior comes toward me.

Another creak. This time louder.

I snap.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"

I screech and spin on my heel, lurching back toward the other side. The Savior pauses for only a moment before lunging at me, barely grabbing me arm in time. His arms slip around me, gripping tightly. I scream, thrash, and beg him, beg that he let me go, let me live! His grip only tightens. He begin yelling at me.

"6, 6 STOP! PLEASE 6! You can't go back! The beast are already on are trail, they'll surely find you! We have to move forward! Go back will lead to sure death!!! You have to come with us! Please, 6!! You need to stop!"

"GOING FORWARD IS SURE DEATH!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!! PLEASE, I BEG YOU, LET ME GO!!!"

"We won't let you die!!! We'll protect you!!!"

"NO!!! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU!?!? WE ARE SET IN STONE!!! YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR FATE!!!"

"WE CAN, 6, WE CAN!!! WE'VE GOTTEN THIS FAR, WE CAN'T DOUBT OURSELVES NOW!!! YOU HAVE TO TR-"

I free my self at last but instead of running, I turn on him, digging my claw like finger into his shoulders. My voice has become hoarse but I screech out one last time.

"YOU CANNOT SAVE THE DAMNED, 9!!!"

Silence...

I see the Defender watching us, shock on her face. I see the Savior, watching me with hurt optics. We stand there, for how long, I do not know. We all stare at each other. My breathing is uneven and shallow. Every fiber of my being is screaming and yelling to run but I cannot break contact with him... His optics pierce my very soul.... Everything about him yelled in sorrow and hurt.

He seems... broken, almost...

What have I done?

I open my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out.

Suddenly, it happens.

I feel myself going up, flying through the air. Wood and steel is everywhere slicing at my fabric. Something cold has me in its grip, making the slices larger. Agony rips through me. I hear screams. The Savior and Defender scream for me, their own voices hoarse. With shock, I realize I'm yelling back for them, terror in my voice. I'm pleading for help. The Defender leaps forward, onto the beast that has captured me. She gives out a war cry, plunging her spear into the monster. It's own roar sounds out, furiously. Another one of it's many arms dive at her. She dodges. I try to tell her to leave me, but only more pleas for help leave my mouth.

Why?

They must leave me. I have nothing left. My life ends here. Nothing can change that. I have seen it. Over and over, it plays out in my many nightmares. My many visions. It is to happen and cannot be stopped.

So why don't I believe that?

The Defender is fighting a losing battle. That much I can see. She dives, tumbles, slices, and stabs but nothing works. The beast is beating her down. Before I know it, she flies through the air before crashing into the bridge, screaming in agony. Swiftly, the monster lunges at her and I scream.

She can't die! What's happing?! Everything-everything is WRONG!!!

The Savior grabs her, throwing her painfully out of the way. I had forgotten about him. He tumbled out of the way in the nick of time.

He looks up at me. Finally, I scream what I've been trying to tell them.

"LEAVE ME!!! RUN AWAY WHILE YOU CAN!!!"

For a moment, he looks like he's about to do just that. Then a look crosses his face.

"YOU'RE WRONG 6!!! YOU CAN SAVE THE DAMNED!!!"

I freeze as he speeds forward, at the machine. Faster then I have ever seen anyone move, he beats and climbs his way to me. It's a losing struggle, but he continues on. He's only feet from me now. Claw after claw, swipe after swipe, he fights it off and somehow still reaches out for me.

"6!!! YOU HAVE TO TRY!!! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT!!! PLEASE, 6, FIGHT IT!!!"

Everything stops. I stare. Slowly I reach back at him. My mouth form unspoken words. A feeling floods my verying being.

I want to fight. I want to try. I want to LIVE!!!

I begin tugging, kicking, slashing at the thing that has a hold of me. My voice has by now left me but I counting to open my mouth is silent cries of courage. My optics catch movement out of the corner. I see feathers! The Defender has come back! She screams and lunges at the claw that grips me. I smile and with another kick and slash, the monsters attention is fully on me. It never sees her until she slices this very claw right off.

My voice is back and the air fills with my scream of anguish.

The claw, as it fell along with me, has stabbed through me.

I hit the bridge with a powerful thud, the claw tearing me up even more. The Savior hits ground next to me, yelling. I can;t make a word of it, my torment being to much, my mind blurred. He grabs the claw and, with a sorrowful glance at me, he yanks it out. My voice breaks out again. He speaks again. Still, I can make out nothing. He grabs me trying to pull me up but I'm too weak. I feel another grip. It's the Defender. The beginning dragging me down the bridge, the monster following close behind. I can only watch in horror as it smashes down a powerful claw. The bridge explodes and I'm once again air born.

Darkness blankets me.

I awaken later... much later.... the Defender and Savior stand over me. Their optics widen. They speak to me but I hear nothing. After a moment, they seem to realize this. The Savior collapses. He takes me into his arms. Pain racks my body but I'm too tired to cry out. I can feel his body shaking. I can feel him dry sobbing against me.

I realize something.

This... was not suppose to happen.

I was suppose to die in the claw of the beast.

....

Even a small change can cause the stone to crumble.

Perhaps... I was wrong....

I open my mouth one last time and it takes my last energy, but I speak.

"Thank you..."

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**THE END**


End file.
